Thousands of families are set to face eviction as the Nyandarua county government moves to repossess grabbed public utility land. The County Governor Francis Kimemia made the order of the repossession and directed the county Land ministry to ensure that all public offices have their land documents.
“I have directed the department of land and planning to survey and demarcate public land and ensure all county government land titles are released to the relevant department for custody. We will work with the community to ensure roads encroachment is reduced and the public is advised in advance,” said Governor Kimemia.
Encroached and grabbed land
Among the grabbed and encroached land are 260 dams, roads, and other public land whose ownership is in the hands of private developers, hindering infrastructural development and expansion of essential services to the residents. Also frustrated by the encroachment is the implementation of UN-Habitat-funded Kenya Informal Settlements Improvement Project (KISIP), targeting eight colonial villages in the county.
Water, Tourism and Environment executive member Ms Milka Wanjiru noted the ongoing demarcation of dams will establish the number of families to be evicted but added that they could be in their thousands. She explained that expansion of the dams, meant for irrigation and supply of clean water for domestic use, is frustrated by the encroachments, denying the larger communities the essential commodity and services.
Risk to the residents
“We cannot say the exact number of families to be affected, but I can tell you it’s a big number. We will only be able to establish the figure once demarcation is done because the dams vary in size, measuring between five and 40 acres,” said Ms Wanjiru.
“You will find that a dam like Ya Mumbi was originally 40 acres but it is today less than five acres with houses and fencing running through the water bodies. The water cannot have moved to the farms. It’s farmers who encroached and stole part of the land. Some of the dams pose a risk to the residents in case of heavy rains. The roads leading to the water bodies are equally encroached on and it would be impossible for any rescue mission in case the dams burst. They need to be rehabilitated for proper use and safety of the residents,” she added.
